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The NFC coaches breakfast was this morning — bright and early at 7:15 a.m. — here at the NFL coaches meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. That meant an hour hanging out with Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. There will be plenty more in-depth of what was said, but for now a few of the main highlights — the biggest being that the reality of Drew Stanton being the 2013 starting quarterback feels very close right now.

— Asked if this was a tough year to be going into the draft needing a quarterback, Arians didn’t blink. “I don’t feel we need one.”

— Along those lines (and again, I will have an article up later today on the subject) Arians said he wasn’t worried about the quarterback situation. He doesn’t know enough about Brian Hoyer, Ryan Lindley or John Skelton yet, because he hasn’t had a chance to go over video and ask “why” on various plays. He obviously has done that with Stanton. But he said he thinks he can win with Stanton, and he said he won’t have a problem if things stay status quo starting Stanton this season.

— Yes, such QB talk is possiblely a smokescreen. Or just hard driving optimism so players (and fans) don’t want to write off 2013. But Arians sure sounded genuine.

— He wants to name a starting QB before training camp. That’s best for the team, he said, making sure the locker room knows who “The Man” will be.

— It hurt Kevin Kolb that Arians couldn’t sit down with him and talk about his play last season and again, figuring out the whys and why nots of decision-making. Without that information, moving on (given the contract) was the best decision, Arians said.

— He talked a little bit about the possibility of adding free agent Josh Cribbs, assuming at some point Cribbs is healthy and the Cards still have interest by that point. He wouldn’t mind having both Cribbs and Patrick Peterson back for a kick or two. “It’d be a nice addition if it works out.” One thing Cribbs won’t do is be QB in a wildcat formation. “I’m not a wildcat dude,” Arians said.

— Not only will Lorenzo Alexander play outside linebacker, new defensive end Matt Shaughnessy can also stand up and play OLB. That could make for an interesting pass rush situation.

— Asked about the tight ends, he was blunt: “I’m not a fullback guy, never have been.” Not great news for Anthony Sherman, at least on the surface. Arians wants two tight ends when one can maneuver into the backfield, making it much harder for the defense to know what’s coming. Having a fullback restricts that flexibility, he said.

— He said the speed at receiver with Fitz, Andre Roberts and Michael Floyd is “plenty fast enough.” He added with a chuckle, wide receiver “is not the position I’ve worried about.”

— Rehab has gone well for center Lyle Sendlein, tackle Levi Brown and running back Ryan Williams, but Arians isn’t sure how much they will do in the early on-field work.

— It’ll be wait-and-see where second-year offensive linemen Nate Potter and Bobby Massie play, either guard or tackle. But Arians is confident they each can do both.

— Levi Brown could play right tackle. But Arians right now sure sounds like a guy expecting to have Brown at left tackle.

— The coaching staff are still trying to figure out what position Justin Bethel will play, cornerback or safety. They will pick one and let him learn it well.

— The Cardinals color Kangol was on display again Wednesday morning. Could we see something similar on Sundays? Arians is talking with with New Era and the NFL on that subject. “I’m not getting fined,” Arians joked. “There’s got to be more than baseball caps, know what I mean?”

1– He won’t pass up a difference maker at the Pass rusher spot if he has a chance to get one.
2– He know’s Jockel and Fisher won’t be there and most rest of the tackles in the draft are Right Tackles in terms of starting this year.
3–If a QB falls to second round he would be tempted to take. (especially after he watches the tape from last year on Lindley and Skelton.)

I think this coaching staff is better than last years, but even BA knows you can’t make chicken saland out of chicken fill in the blank…

If Arians isn’t worried about the QB position, then he’s not worried about any position on the team. It’s hard to believe and somewhat scary that Arians admits to not having gone over the game tape of Skelton, Lindley, or Hoyer

Darren – do you really believe Arians hasn’t gone over any game tape of the QBs on this roster? How in the heck do you make QB decisions in free agency or the draft without analyzing any film of the QBs currently on your roster?

One thing that encourages me about Arians is his first two years as OC in Cleveland, where the Browns went 16-16 with Tim Couch as their QB. If Stanton can be as good as Tim Couch, we’ll be respectable this year.

That being said, I’m really hoping for a pass-rusher (a la Jarvis Jones, Dion Jordan, Barkevious Mingo) in the first round, and Larry Warford in the 2nd. Say what you will about this O-line, Colledge and Snyder are not long term (heck, they aren’t short-term) solutions at Guard. Keim has done a bang-up job filling holes at linebacker and corner that should allow us to make some moves for the future.

He added with a chuckle, wide receiver “is not the position I’ve worried about.”

If I’ve got this right, he’s not worried about the QB, thinks our OL is better than advertised, likes our WR’s, and is basically installing the same offense as we had last year, albeit hinting at more involvement with the TE’s. I hope this shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that he thinks he found the woes to our 32nd ranked offense by replacing Kolb with Stanton, and Beanie with Mendenhall (especially with his history of ignoring the run game).

I’ll give him this, he’s probably an incredible poker player but I’m guessing he doesn’t really believe he can bluff his way to victory with the hand he currently has. If so, we may want to close our eyes when Seattle takes the field against us again.

is this whispers you as well, we’ll go after a TE in the draft?
If he don’t want a QB (and i think Smith is out of question), and we can’t put our hands on Jockel, Fisher, or Warmack, it would be nice to trade down several spots and nab Eifert or Ertz. (yes I know, there should be someone who wants to trade up)

For all those who believe in the “Best Player Available” approach to the draft, we could honestly see it under Arians. ( I am one who believes that BPA for your needs is the way to go and QB trumps all)

But….

If you believe you have an Oline that consist of these five guys, Brown, Colledge, Potter, Sendlin, and Massie and they can get the job done. There isn’t a perceived need.

If you have Shaughnessy and Alexander added to the OLB mix, you dont need a OLB.

If Stanton could start, you dont need a QB.

We actually go into the draft with no real perceived needs.

Would you like an upgrade on the Oline? sure, but you dont have to go that way.
Would you like a young QB? sure but again, it doesnt have to be forced.
Do we need a FS? No bell is there but I sure would like to upgrade him in the draft.

I finally am getting a grip on this new regime. It took a while. But I truly think he believes he has guys in place that can play. His draft will be of those players who are the best guys for the system and makes the team better.

So, in reality, look at the best player on the board at 7, and that is our pick. If that is Sharrif Floyd or Star Lotalelei, we all may be surprised at the pick.

It will be interesting. You may not like the approach, but only time will tell.

Darren, what would you think about drafting Geno Smith and have a trade pre worked out with Philadelphia where Smith goes to Philly and the Cardinals get Nick Foles and an additional draft pick like a 3 or 4? This way, Chip Kelly gets a QB made for the read option spread offense and the Cardinals get a local start and get more of a drop back passer with high completion percentage in Foles that fits Arian’s offense more. Pass this idea on to Steve Keim and I bet you get a raise……😉

Yawn…doesn’t look like the new coach is out to set the world on fire…that is REALLY scary!
Sounds like a lot of back peddling…don’t see a need for a QB??? ARE YOU SERIOUS! Stanton is OK…for a backup, but, really? We still don’t have a franchise QB, which is pretty central in the minds of most experts, and while I respect Coach Arians, as a teacher, lets remember this is his first gig as a Head Coach. The Cards are going to be ground into the hereafter if we can’t step things up this year and so far, the Cards have not received winning marks in the Free Agencyhttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/1570068-winners-and-losers-of-the-early-nfl-free-agency-signing-period/page/15

@Clssylssy I agree with you. No coach is going to tell the world he doesn’t like any position, especially QB. It is too much like showing your hand in a poker game. With Stanton starting we will be 4th best in our division at QB. The other three just don’t rate. We must draft a QB at some point.

I am excited about the changes. People who are looking for instant turnaround are delusional. You cannot expect a roster turnover when it comes to key starting positions like this and have it go perfect right out of the gates. Couple the changes the Cardinals have made with the rest of the division all pointing up for the next 2 years, it may be a bit of a climb. But it doesn’t mean they won’t get there.

“Have patience,” is hard to hear for fans, but that is all you can do until the Seahawks and 49ers eventually implode and the Cardinals get better as the Rams showed last year.

And stop the nonsense freak out sessions on Arians being cool with Stanton. At least we don’t have to have a competition every training camp like the Whisenhunt days.

I’m thinking this would be an excellent draft to trade completely out of the 1st round and pick up another 2nd rounder this year and next year’s 1st from a team hoping to get Geno Smith (Jax, Oakland, Philly) who pass on him with the first pick. I’d be fine with that.

Arians will be losing his job very quickly because he is actually serious about Stanton being a candidate for the starting QB job. I’m definitely not watching that BS on sunday for 3-4 hrs. I’ve already had enough of that for the better part of 3 years or since Kurt retired. Cribbs we should get and I don’t know why if we get him he wouldn’t want him in the wildcat, it is kinda played out but Cribbs is explosive. I also don’t like the news on the fullback, sure fullbacks have a lessened role in the NFL nowadays, but what about your Power formations and Jumbo Packages?! Our O-Line was pathetic last year and he’s acting as if it was the best in the league. Indy’s O-Line was bad last year also and so we’re their running game and their D wasn’t good. When I say Andrew Luck and those WRs we’re the team, I mean it other than maybe a Mathis and Freeney.

Even Brady had to start, and find out it is not so easy, NE got lucky picking Brady(#199 in the sixth) over Rattay (who?). Took Brady a year and Five games to show what he had, heck his QB rating was in the high 70’s and as low as the high 50’s, yawn.

Not saying Stanton or any other of our QB’s is a Brady but you can not Know what you have until they are in a game, and even then it may take five games just to start to look good.

Darren…agreed The Bleacher Report is just another sports rag full of opinion pieces but, tell me, these days what isn’t? NFL.com has writters rating RBs who still think Hightower plays for the Cardinals, and Mike Florio reports the Owners are tabling the new helmet rule while they are in the process of passing the rule! It’s getting so any sports writer has an agenda (sports politics) and everything has to be read with skepticism. Opinions vary and nobody is every 100% in agreement but between Fox Sports, ESPN, and all the analysts on TV, fans can still see the points that MOST are in agreement about. You will notice that Bleacher Reports reposts a lot of articles from reputable news sources such as NFL.com, ProFootballTalk, NOLA, etc. so, it is what it is…just say’n.
I’ll take competition any day over maintaining the status quo…I have a feeling so would the 9ers and the Seahawks!

“I mean, listen, we’re talking about Bleacher Report, not a game, not a game, not a game, we talking about Bleacher Report. Not a game. Not, not … Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last. Not the game, but we’re talking about Bleacher Report, man. I mean, how silly is that?”

Our QB problems, last year, are the result of poor coaching by Miller, Grimm, the QB position coach, or the WR’s coach. Someone didn’t let the QB’s play their game. I think they were told to be extra cautious and just don’t turn the ball over and our defense will win the game for us. We saw Kolb hold the ball to long, then take a sack or run away. We saw Lyndley unable to make a decision and throwing late to recievers. Lyndley was also trying to hard and attempting to guide the ball. Skelton is the only one who seemed unaffected. He did not change his decision making, but was wildly inaccurate.

WR’s were not on the same page with QB’s from game 6 to the end of the season. Some of that can be blamed on the quarter back shuffle and part on the coaching staff.

Bottom line, Whiz was responsible for his coaching staff and should have seen this problem and reacted.

So, Arians might be right. We may not need a QB, but I would love to see Geno in Cardinal red.

John The draft, I was just talking about the Cardinals #1 pick not the Eagles as well. The Eagles could use their #1 pick for another top player and still get Geno Smith by trading Foles and a number 4 pick for Smith after the Cardinals take him at #7. Philly needs O line help bad like the Cardinals so they could pick one of the top offensive linemen with their pick and still get Geno Smith with the Cardinals pick and not hold on to a drop back QB like Foles in the process. If they were able to get say Fisher at OT and Geno Smith both in the first round and dump the QB that doesn’t fit in Chip Kelly spread offense system (Foles) it would be a huge move for them. And the Cardinals could get a high percentage drop back passer in Foles and probably a 3rd or 4th round pick from Philly to boot for getting the Cardinals #1 pick.

So for the 7th pick of the draft you’d take Foles and a 3rd or a 4th? They assign values to picks. That’s the equivalent of trading a brand new sports car that could be a lemon for a station wagon and a few months of gas. I think the gm might be fired before geno smith got to the podium.

Arians is setting himself up here for being so arrogant should golden boy be a bust, Stanton has not thrown a ball on grass in Arizona and he is crowning the guy, he actually hasn’t started an NFL game since 2010. This after 5 seasons of minimal playing time in the NFL. Let’s see what the guy has got before we annoit him king. Stanton is good in practice apparently, this is where the totality of BA’s vision of him has been while with the Colts.

The reality is that this team will take awhile to gel and get leadership on both sides of the ball now. We need camp competition for every position.

most importantly we’ll be healthy with a new staff trying to be proactive instead of reactive.we can still take much from our first four starts last year,before the wheels came off.injuries and poor coaching started the downward spiral.what was remarkable was that our defense hung in there as a team the whole way and did’nt bag on the offense,it was always “win as a team or lose as a team”,great character.new leadership,a few new faces,i like the core product already.keeping the defense strong and just improving the ground game already makes us better,i don’t think we could get worse in the passing department,so anything will be an improvement over the last 12 games.

finding a difference making olb and some depth,our defense will once again lead the team,but that’s ok as long as we improve the offense,either ground game first or passing game first,or somehow they both click together,we’ve already flashed our character on defense,and everyone knows that “defense wins championships”,so we’ll be half way there.just please don’t try to make improvements on offense at the expense of the defense,at least that part of the team is going good.

i also believe that our conference is going to help shape us,no weak teams to inflate stats,have to bring your “A” game every week, will either break us or make us stronger.

I don’t know what all this fuss is about. BA has not “annoitted Stanton King” he has said he had faith in his skills to play QB. That is a huge breath of fresh air having had a coach that wouldn’t show faith in any QB. I mean how is your team supposed to rally around their field general if the head coach can’t even back the guy. That was always Whiz’s problem… I LOVE what BA is doing here. Even if Stanton doesn’t end up being this savior of a QB this season, even if he sucks it up big time, he at least put the faith in him to allow this team to rally around their QB finally and not have a divided locker room.

QB competition has hurt this team for too long. Pick your man, and let him develop. We need continuity between our QB and receivers. Only way to get there is for them to spend every moment working together.
Cribbs would be great, if healthy. Guys get hurt regularly. Having another playmaker will definitely be an asset.
We really need O-line help. Hope we take care of it in the draft.

Honestly, he doesnt really need to go over the tape to know neither skelton or lindley has a future with the cards, he’ll play dumb and cut them during OTA’s and training camp. We’ll draft a quarterback in the 3rd or 4th round and stick with the two SPARTANS to battle for the starting job. For our sake, I hope we find a russel wilson out there that can beat them both. But this rebuilding process will take at least 2-3 years the way Arians is going about it, hopefully the Cardinals are willing to give BA that kind of time. (If not, then its back to square one)

Sucks to see the niners, seahawks, and rams getting better while the cardinals stand still, we really need a GREAT draft

I love Arians’ approach with the media so far. He can say whatever he wants as far as I’m concerned — some of it is probably misdirection, some of it is an effort to instill confidence in the guys he has, but honestly, getting worried about a March comment like “I don’t feel we need one” re: QB is silly.

but honestly, getting worried about a March comment like “I don’t feel we need one” re: QB is silly.

Free agency officially started in March, the draft is in April, when exactly should fans be worried about the QB situation? Which, as it stands right now, is worse than it was last year (which really wouldn’t have seemed possible). A little too much status quo and compliments for the league’s worst offense for my liking. Hopefully, as a few of us are guessing, it’s a great poker face and some misdirection.